


the duckling crisis

by somalester



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Married Life, Retirement, they love each other so much it’s ridiculous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 12:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19151347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somalester/pseuds/somalester
Summary: Steve Rogers loves Tony Stark.It seemed to be a constant of the universe. At least to him, because Steve wakes up every morning even more in love with his husband than he already was before.





	the duckling crisis

**Author's Note:**

> there’s literally no plot in this. it’s just fluff and i apologize for nothing

Steve Rogers loves Tony Stark.

It seemed to be a constant of the universe. At least to him, because Steve wakes up every morning even more in love with his husband than he already was before.

Every day, when either the sun comes through their bedroom window, or - more often than not - they get woken up by the rain pounding against their cottage, Steve feels Tony’s warm body in his arms and his heart leaps.

Every day they have like this is a present, a treasure that they greatly cherish.

Steve feels Tony stir in his arms and tightens his hold in response. He knows they have to get up; there’s always so much to do in the summer.But this is what he gets to do now - steal all these happy moments with the love of his life without having to worry about collateral damage.

The only collateral damage they have to worry about now is the well-being of their sheep.

Steve presses his nose into Tony’s hair. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Tony replies, clearly much more awake than Steve, despite thefact that Steve only felt him sliding into their bed long after midnight.

“The sheep okay?”

He feels Tony nod against his chest. “Yeah. The babies aren’t here yet, but they’re doing okay.”

It’s weird, how worried they both are about their animals. Decades of fighting super villains and aliens, and yet, the impeding birth of their sheep has them both on edge.

Which is why Steve assumes Tony spent the better part of the night out on the field.

Tony squirms in his hold. “Steve... There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Okay,” Steve says, calmly. He’s not afraid of what Tony might mean; the days where lies and miscommunication threatened to tear their relationship apart are long gone now. He and Tony have both worked on being more open with each other. He trusts Tony, without question.

“I think it’s better if I show you,” Tony says, and begins to untangle himself from Steve’s limbs and their blankets.

Steve sighs, wishing to revel in the lazy warmth of their bed a bit longer, and follows his partner.

Walking into the living room, like every morning, Steve is struck by how much luck he he’s had.

He survived seven decades in the ice, found the love of his life, and they both lived long enough to make the decision of retiring.

And they found this. Steve couldn’t have imagined a better place to spend the rest of his life.

Sure, as of right now, they have rain pouring down from the sky as if someone’s emptying buckets and whenever they want to buy groceries, they have to drive half an hour to the nearest town with a supermarket, but Steve wouldn’t have it any other way.

On the rare occasions the sun does shine, they take long walks along the coast to watch the seals and the birds, or hike over the hills, where the green grass stretches as far as the eye can see.

Here, there’s so meeting and no monsters (most of the time). All they have to do is be, and take care of their sheep.

Steve had been the one to suggest this, even. After Tony was officially retired, he still ran himself ragged trying to help wherever the could. It killed Steve, to see the stress slowly but surely making Tony’s health worse. So he proposed this - retirement, together, on a rural island just off the coast of Scotland.

And Tony looked at him with such desperate hope in his eyes Steve wanted to cry.

_“You’d really do that? For me?”_

As if Tony didn’t already know Steve would give his life, and more, without hesitating.

“I know I should’ve asked you, but I couldn’t just _leave_ it there, you know. And -”

Steve forces himself to come back to reality, where his husband is talking himself into a frenzy.

“Sweetheart, calm down. Whatever it is, I’m not gonna be mad.”

Tony sighs and - with the attitude of a five-year-old caught with his hand in a cookie jar - fetches a shoe carton from the counter.

Steve stares at it for a moment, as his brain can’t really believe what it’s seeing.

There, nestled between hay and old newspaper, is a small duckling.

“Uh.”

“It would’ve died!” Tony protests, even though Steve hasn’t even said anything. “I found it on the alone side of the street and the weather’s so bad you know.”

Steve starts laughing.

Tony stares at him.

Steve forces himself to take a deep breath. “Sweetheart, I can’t believe you were scared to tell me that.”

Tony frowns. “You -”

Steve shakes his head and raises his hand to lightly caress Tony’s cheek. “I am just as happy out here as you are. If anything, it should’ve been me who starts picking up animals from the streets.”

He feels Tony relax under his hand and smiles.

“I don’t even know how to take care of it,” Tony mumbles against Steve’s hand.

Steve kisses him on the forehead. “We’ll figure it out together, sweetheart. Just like we always do.”


End file.
